Just slap A band aid on it
by HelloDuncan
Summary: Alone, shiny and completely naive due to lack of soldier training, Clone Medic Strap finally arrives at his new post in Coruscant city! Caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a gang of ruthless mobsters, Strap struggles to find the line between the perfect soldier and the perfect friend


Coruscant, the planet city of hope and adventure; a place where thief's, murderers and refugees go to start their ruined lives over once more... It was the centre of the Republic, housing the all-powerful Senate and Jedi Order who were all fighting so bravely to end this senseless Clone War through peace and negotiations. Though most inhibitors of this city covered planet, human and alien, were just common folk trying to make their way in the galaxy. Some were poor and some were rich, but despite the way they treated each other, the rich crushing the poor with an arrogance that was sickening, they all shared something in common. They all stared in fear and curiosity as a single Republic Clone in casual, citizen clothes and carrying a large white suitcase in hand bordered the public train headed down town in the late hours of the night...

The bright colours of apartment buildings, dance clubs and shops melted together in a blur of colourful light as the train left the port station and began to speed though the Coruscant night. It was magical; to watch the nightlife speed by, to watch differently dressed people go about their duties in such an unorganised fashion; the bright pinks, neon green and electric blues were simply amazing. Pressing his face up against the thick train glass window in eager excitement, Strap's brown eyes strained to keep up with the sights, he watched as a young, drunk man was hurled from a brightly lit bar by a large Wookiee bouncer, the drunk man yelled some abuse at the bouncer before wondering off, content with his insults. Strap was completely amazed how the passes by didn't seem to notice, they just walked hurriedly around the drunk as if the little scene didn't happen, where was this man's comanding officer to keep him in line? Before long, and many scenes' of interest later (inculing two drunken brawls and a drug bust by police droids), the window began to fog white from his hot breath; he pulled away and wiped his white sleeve over the distored glass area just as the train's over head lights flickered, sending the train into blackness for a few tiny seconds. Strap watched the white of the glob dance on and off as a white moth lightly danced around it; it reminded him of a bad storm late at night on Kamino the way the heavy rain and lightning would make the waters below churn and the lights inside flicker. With the thought of his younger brothers still in training back home, he suddenly felt sad he had left that watery planet by himself, had he made a mistake when he agreed to be shipped out BEFORE the next squads? The lonely sadness of change suddenly vanished when Strap suddenly felt curious all over again,like a puppy or a small child being taken to a zoo, someone was still watching him closely. He wasn't used to being stared at so closely, it didn't feel normal to have someone looking at you without even trying to hide their attempts of doing so. But people had staring, ever since he got off his ship and set foot on this busy world, at home and in training he was just another identical face in a sea of thousands', identified only by a 4 digit number given to him at 'birth'. Was being a Clone really that rare here? Or was staring at someone intensely a custom among the mass of citizens of Coruscant?

Using all the spy skills he had acquired in his flash training Strap's eyes' drifted over the seated passengers of the half full train and landed on the person staring. It was a young Twi'lek girl with aqua tinted skin, she had large green eyes filled with curiosity. She was sitting on her knees backwards in her seat next to her aqua skinned mother; clutching a small doll and staring. She gave him a toothy smile when he stared back. She reached out and gave a friendly wave; it was an odd gesture for one so small to do to a stranger, though Strap returned it without even thinking, the boy inside of him filled with glee at the excitement of new friends, the soldier telling him that friends were dangerous. The child's mother quickly grabbed her hand and made her sit down properly, telling her not to talk or stare at strangers. Strap couldn't help but agree that it was great advice, one he would soon have to adopt when living in this large world.

The train soon began to rattle as it slowed; the bright white lights flickered even more as the brakes screeched, bring the train to a slow stop. A series of dialects announced the destination on the over head speakers until Strap recognised one he could understand -basic. "Stop number 15, Republic Senate and Republic Solider Housing A." No one stood or made an inch of movement when the large, silver train doors slide opened with a faint beep. Strap stretched his back and picked up his white suitcase, he waved goodbye naïvely to the other passengers before stepping off the train, strange looks being casted in his direction. The silver doors closed behind and the train lurched forward and off to its next stop, disappearing quickly into the bright night lights.

Strap's eyes widened in excitement as he left the clean, empty Republic station and ventured down the empty housing street. The lights that lit his way were a bright, pure white and the traffic lanes were empty of any Air Speeders due to no civilian access. He noticed that there were no colourful lights, loud music, smoke, trash or drunks in this district, not like the others which houses clubs and shops. It was like a ghost street. Strap walked past two experienced Coruscant Clone soldiers on night patrol, they wore the standard issue white armour with marking of red, their guns polished to perfection. They saluted him as he walked on by, and he returned the gesture clumsily and continued down the empty street, they watched him go curious about the civilian clothes but ignoring his presence all the same. Along with no sign of life, Strap noticed all the lights were out in all the seperate housing barracks, everyone was clearly asleep; lights out must have started at least 5 hours ago, which meant it was very late.

Strap set down his white suitcase at the front of an identical housing unit just 17 numbers down from the station he had just arrived at. Digging deep into the pocket of his comfortable, light brown pants, he managed to grab hold of his light blue security key card that held his ID number (no use in having your picture in a CLONE army); he swiped it over the white door pad and it made an approving beeping noise as the buttons turned green. The sound of heavy bolts unlocking echoed from the other side and the door slide up and out of sight; bending down and picking up his suitcase, Strap entered the 'house' and into a short but wide hallway, it had no windows but it did have a lovely potted plant. The front door slide shut once again and relocked itself. The dark corridor soon branched out into a medium-sized eating area where the tables and benchers were set military style, in straight lines much like the mess hall on Kamino. The lights remained off, sending the rooms into a still, dense darkness that took a lot of adjusting to navigate though. Avoiding the mess hall, kitchens and Gym, Strap turned and ventured down the wide, dark corridor to his left; single, evenly spaced doors ran the length of it on either side. Strap did the maths, there were about 30 doors along the hallway, each room should hold 4 men, that was 120 of his brothers in this single barracks alone! Walking past a few sets of locked doors, Strap stopped outside one with a notice that had his ID number on it; he swiped his key card once more the door slide open quietly. He walked inside just as quietly and was welcomed with the snores of 3 deep sleeping Clones. The room in question was quite small, it housed two bunk beds that sat on either side of the smooth white walls. A small, grey footlocker for each of them rest along the back wall, three of the four already claimed by his brothers. Above the lockers sat the soldier's cleaned guns and helmets. Strap sat his suitcase lightly down on the last locker and opened it softly; there wasn't much in there, 4 sets of his standard issue grey medical uniforms, his shiny black boots, his toiletries and a small medical kit for emergencies. He couldn't be bothered to unpack in the dark, it would be a useless hassle and he could wake one of his sleeping brothers; settling for sleep, Strap slipped off his shoes and placed them neatly next to his bunk bed, he dug around in his pants pocket and fished out any items that floated there and placed them on the shelf next to his new blaster pistol before he slipped off his white, long-sleeved shirt and threw it into his suitcase. He climbed to the free bed at the top bunk and laid down on the soft mattress (ok, it wasn't very soft, but its better then nothing), with a yawn he ran his hands down his face and closed his eyes. Today had been a long day filled with stress, excitment and space sickness. Tomorrow looked like it was going to be even longer because tomorrow, he started his first day as a real Clone medic at Coruscant's military medical base...


End file.
